THE SUPREMACY OF MIND OVER MATTER.
It is safe to assert that right holds a just and hereditary control over wrong. Veritas vincit. Justice and truth go hand in hand. Barbarism must bow before the genius of civilization. And what is not found in international law, nor suppressed by it, nor dictated by the commercial rivalries of nations, nor the zealous diplomacy of kings, will yet continue as it ever has, to recognize the power of mind over matter, of reason over passion, of intellect over animal existence; and the dominion and supremacy of written constitutions over citizens, communities, States, and empires. The right of government in civilized States more than suggests the right and supremacy of civilization over barbarism. But the right of mind over matter, of intellect over mere animal life, of reason over passion, is asserted upon the broadest principles of philosophy in nature. The Infinite Spirit, unseen, moves the visible material creation as the creature of his will.
He framed the universe, and instant twirled
Upon its orbit, this terrestrial world;
Bid chaos flee, and called the glittering train
Of constellations to the ethereal plain;
He built the fabric of creation fair;
Lit every sun that shines in glory there;
Strewed with his hand, to deck heaven's argent fields,
Each starry atom that refraction yields;
And holds in order, as it moves along,
Each seraph bright, of the celestial throng!